Disney owns/co-owns ESPN, Hulu, ABC, Fox, A&E, The History Channel, Lifetime, Vice, 20th Century Fox, 21st Century Fox, Touchstone, Lucasfilm, Searchlight, National Geographic, FX, FXX... the list goes on.

It's worth remembering that Disney's single largest revenue source is... ESPN. Not its animated movies, other film IPs, other TV series, theme parks, or merchandising, but ESPN.

>Disney's IP isn't really all that compelling

Are you counting the entire back catalog of 20th Century Fox?

Kids are into kids movies, and there are lots of them :)